<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
  "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    
    <title>17.9. rlcompleter — Completion function for GNU readline &mdash; Python v2.6.2 documentation</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/default.css" type="text/css" />
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
      var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = {
        URL_ROOT:    '../',
        VERSION:     '2.6.2',
        COLLAPSE_MODINDEX: false,
        FILE_SUFFIX: '.html',
        HAS_SOURCE:  true
      };
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/jquery.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/doctools.js"></script>
    <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
          title="Search within Python v2.6.2 documentation"
          href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/>
    <link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
    <link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" />
    <link rel="top" title="Python v2.6.2 documentation" href="../index.html" />
    <link rel="up" title="17. Optional Operating System Services" href="someos.html" />
    <link rel="next" title="18. Interprocess Communication and Networking" href="ipc.html" />
    <link rel="prev" title="17.8. readline — GNU readline interface" href="readline.html" />
    <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.png" />
 

  </head>
  <body>
    <div class="related">
      <h3>Navigation</h3>
      <ul>
        <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
          <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
             accesskey="I">index</a></li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../modindex.html" title="Global Module Index"
             accesskey="M">modules</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="ipc.html" title="18. Interprocess Communication and Networking"
             accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="readline.html" title="17.8. readline — GNU readline interface"
             accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
        <li><img src="../_static/py.png" alt=""
                 style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
        <li><a href="../index.html">Python v2.6.2 documentation</a> &raquo;</li>

          <li><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> &raquo;</li>
          <li><a href="someos.html" accesskey="U">17. Optional Operating System Services</a> &raquo;</li> 
      </ul>
    </div>  

    <div class="document">
      <div class="documentwrapper">
        <div class="bodywrapper">
          <div class="body">
            
  <div class="section" id="module-rlcompleter">
<h1>17.9. <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">rlcompleter</span></tt> &#8212; Completion function for GNU readline<a class="headerlink" href="#module-rlcompleter" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>The <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">rlcompleter</span></tt> module defines a completion function suitable for the
<a title="(Unix) GNU readline support for Python." class="reference external" href="readline.html#module-readline"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">readline</span></tt></a> module by completing valid Python identifiers and keywords.</p>
<p>When this module is imported on a Unix platform with the <a title="(Unix) GNU readline support for Python." class="reference external" href="readline.html#module-readline"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">readline</span></tt></a> module
available, an instance of the <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">Completer</span></tt> class is automatically created
and its <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">complete()</span></tt> method is set as the <a title="(Unix) GNU readline support for Python." class="reference external" href="readline.html#module-readline"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">readline</span></tt></a> completer.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">rlcompleter</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">readline</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">readline</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">parse_and_bind</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">&quot;tab: complete&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">readline</span><span class="o">.</span> <span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="n">TAB</span> <span class="n">PRESSED</span><span class="o">&gt;</span>
<span class="go">readline.__doc__          readline.get_line_buffer(  readline.read_init_file(</span>
<span class="go">readline.__file__         readline.insert_text(      readline.set_completer(</span>
<span class="go">readline.__name__         readline.parse_and_bind(</span>
<span class="gp">&gt;&gt;&gt; </span><span class="n">readline</span><span class="o">.</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">rlcompleter</span></tt> module is designed for use with Python&#8217;s interactive
mode.  A user can add the following lines to his or her initialization file
(identified by the <span class="target" id="index-517"></span><a class="reference external" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONSTARTUP"><strong class="xref">PYTHONSTARTUP</strong></a> environment variable) to get
automatic <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Tab</span></tt> completion:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="k">try</span><span class="p">:</span>
    <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">readline</span>
<span class="k">except</span> <span class="ne">ImportError</span><span class="p">:</span>
    <span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">&quot;Module readline not available.&quot;</span>
<span class="k">else</span><span class="p">:</span>
    <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">rlcompleter</span>
    <span class="n">readline</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">parse_and_bind</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">&quot;tab: complete&quot;</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>On platforms without <a title="(Unix) GNU readline support for Python." class="reference external" href="readline.html#module-readline"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">readline</span></tt></a>, the <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">Completer</span></tt> class defined by
this module can still be used for custom purposes.</p>
<div class="section" id="completer-objects">
<span id="id1"></span><h2>17.9.1. Completer Objects<a class="headerlink" href="#completer-objects" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Completer objects have the following method:</p>
<dl class="method">
<dt id="rlcompleter.Completer.complete">
<tt class="descclassname">Completer.</tt><tt class="descname">complete</tt><big>(</big><em>text</em>, <em>state</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#rlcompleter.Completer.complete" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the <em>state*th completion for *text</em>.</p>
<p>If called for <em>text</em> that doesn&#8217;t include a period character (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">'.'</span></tt>), it will
complete from names currently defined in <a title="The environment where the top-level script is run." class="reference external" href="__main__.html#module-__main__"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">__main__</span></tt></a>, <a title="The module that provides the built-in namespace." class="reference external" href="__builtin__.html#module-__builtin__"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">__builtin__</span></tt></a> and
keywords (as defined by the <a title="Test whether a string is a keyword in Python." class="reference external" href="keyword.html#module-keyword"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">keyword</span></tt></a> module).</p>
<p>If called for a dotted name, it will try to evaluate anything without obvious
side-effects (functions will not be evaluated, but it can generate calls to
<a title="object.__getattr__" class="reference external" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__getattr__"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">__getattr__()</span></tt></a>) up to the last part, and find matches for the rest via the
<a title="dir" class="reference external" href="functions.html#dir"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">dir()</span></tt></a> function.  Any exception raised during the evaluation of the
expression is caught, silenced and <a title="None" class="reference external" href="constants.html#None"><tt class="xref xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">None</span></tt></a> is returned.</p>
</dd></dl>

</div>
</div>


          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="sphinxsidebar">
        <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
            <h3><a href="../contents.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3>
            <ul>
<li><a class="reference external" href="">17.9. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">rlcompleter</span></tt> &#8212; Completion function for GNU readline</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference external" href="#completer-objects">17.9.1. Completer Objects</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

            <h4>Previous topic</h4>
            <p class="topless"><a href="readline.html"
                                  title="previous chapter">17.8. <tt class="docutils literal docutils literal docutils literal"><span class="pre">readline</span></tt> &#8212; GNU readline interface</a></p>
            <h4>Next topic</h4>
            <p class="topless"><a href="ipc.html"
                                  title="next chapter">18. Interprocess Communication and Networking</a></p>
            <h3>This Page</h3>
            <ul class="this-page-menu">
              <li><a href="../_sources/library/rlcompleter.txt"
                     rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li>
            </ul>
          <div id="searchbox" style="display: none">
            <h3>Quick search</h3>
              <form class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
                <input type="text" name="q" size="18" />
                <input type="submit" value="Go" />
                <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
                <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
              </form>
              <p class="searchtip" style="font-size: 90%">
              Enter search terms or a module, class or function name.
              </p>
          </div>
          <script type="text/javascript">$('#searchbox').show(0);</script>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div class="clearer"></div>
    </div>
    <div class="related">
      <h3>Navigation</h3>
      <ul>
        <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
          <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
             >index</a></li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="../modindex.html" title="Global Module Index"
             >modules</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="ipc.html" title="18. Interprocess Communication and Networking"
             >next</a> |</li>
        <li class="right" >
          <a href="readline.html" title="17.8. readline — GNU readline interface"
             >previous</a> |</li>
        <li><img src="../_static/py.png" alt=""
                 style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
        <li><a href="../index.html">Python v2.6.2 documentation</a> &raquo;</li>

          <li><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> &raquo;</li>
          <li><a href="someos.html" >17. Optional Operating System Services</a> &raquo;</li> 
      </ul>
    </div>
    <div class="footer">
      &copy; <a href="../copyright.html">Copyright</a> 1990-2009, Python Software Foundation.
      Last updated on Apr 15, 2009.
      Created using <a href="http://sphinx.pocoo.org/">Sphinx</a> 0.6.1.
    </div>
  </body>
</html>